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Wisconsin Watch partners with Gigafact to produce fact briefs — bite-sized fact checks of trending claims. Read our methodology to learn how we check claims.

Yes.

Thirteen of the 21 African American women who have served on the U.S. Courts of Appeals were nominated by President Joe Biden.

They are Nancy Abudu, DeAndrea Benjamin, Julianna Childs, Tiffany Cunningham, Stephanie Davis, Dana Douglas, Arianna Freeman, Ketanji Brown Jackson, Candace Jackson-Akiwumi, Eunice Lee, Tamika Montgomery-Reeves, Doris Pryor and Holly Thomas.

Biden also nominated Brown Jackson to serve as the first Black woman on the U.S. Supreme Court.

The other eight Black, female U.S. appellate judges were appointed by Democratic presidents Jimmy Carter (1), Bill Clinton (3) and Barack Obama (2) and by Republican President George W. Bush (2).

Appellate judges determine whether the law was applied correctly in trial courts.

The appellate judges claim was made May 9, 2024, on Milwaukee talk radio by Democratic National Committee chair Jaime Harrison.

This fact brief is responsive to conversations such as this one.

Sources

Federal Judicial Center: Black female federal appeals court judges

People for the American Way: 70 Years Since Brown: Advancing Diversity in the Courts

Defender Services Office: President Biden Has Confirmed 150 Federal Judges. 100 Are Women

American Presidency Project: ICYMI: President Biden Now Has 129 Federal Judges Confirmed – More Than Last 3 Presidents

Federal Judicial Center: Biographical Directory of Article III Federal Judges, 1789-present

101.7 The Truth: A.I. Terrorism in Milwaukee! | The Truth Sherwin Hughes

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Tom Kertscher joined Wisconsin Watch as a full-time Milwaukee-based reporter in October 2024 after starting as a freelance Fact Briefs reporter in January 2023. In addition to contributing to Wisconsin Watch’s collaboration with The Gigafact Project to combat online misinformation, he reports on Wisconsin policy, labor, energy and the rapid expansion of data centers across the state. Kertscher is a former longtime reporter at the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, a contributing writer for Milwaukee Magazine and the author of two sports books, on Al McGuire and Brett Favre.